The Essay Film After Fact and Fiction

For many years, Nora Alter has been our most brilliant advocate of the essay film as an open genre that floats between documentary, fiction, and the art film. The Essay Film After Fact and Fiction is the first comprehensive survey of this difficult and experimental genre in both its historical context and variable aesthetic manifestations. The depth and complexity of Alters account of the essay films critical force and aesthetic innovations will not soon be surpassed. -- D. N. Rodowick, Glen A. Lloyd Distinguished Service Professor in Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago This magisterial study marks a milestone in scholarship on the most intellectually expansive and unpredictable film genre of the last half-century. Global in scope, Alters book displays the essay film's astonishing richness of forms and functions from its beginnings in the 1920s to contemporary art installations. Both a reliable history and a sharp-eyed investigation, The Essay Film After Fact and Fiction is indispensable for anyone interested in the past and future of nonfiction cinema. -- Anton Kaes, University of California, Berkeley The Essay Film After Fact and Fiction is unfailingly lucid, balanced, and informed. Alter provides generous and illuminating analyses of specific films, filmmakers, and decisive shifts in the arts and media history. Her book is a definitive guide to the multiple modes of production and global contexts of a vital tradition that continues to enrich contemporary culture and nurture critical thought. -- Edward Dimendberg, University of California, Irvine The Essay Film After Fact and Fiction deepens the readers understanding of the history, aesthetics, and politics of its subject. -- Josh Guilford * Film Quarterly * This book is invaluable for its scope and depth; the sheer number of films and filmmakers considered makes it an indispensable resource. * Choice *

Nora M. Alter is professor of comparative film and media studies in the School of Theater, Film, and Media Arts at Temple University. She is author of Vietnam Protest Theatre: The Television War on Stage (1996); Projecting History: German Nonfiction Cinema, 1967-2000 (2002); and Chris Marker (2006) and coeditor (with Timothy Corrigan) of Essays on the Essay Film (Columbia, 2017).

Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Beginnings 2. Speaking Essays or Interruptions 3. The Essay Film as Archive and Repository of Memories 4. The Essay Film as the Fourth Estate 5. The Artist Essay: Expanding the Field and the Turn to Video 6. New Migrations: Third Cinema and the Essay Film 7. Beyond the Cinematic Screen: Installations and the Internet Notes Bibliography Index